{"id":9803,"date":"2015-07-12T01:00:36","date_gmt":"2015-07-12T05:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/?p=9803"},"modified":"2025-09-15T15:47:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:47:32","slug":"bookbinder-of-the-month-ben-elbel-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/12\/bookbinder-of-the-month-ben-elbel-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Bookbinder of the Month: Ben Elbel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"OnionSkin3-BenElbel\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I love this structure developed\u00a0by Ben Elbel<\/a>, which he appropriately named Onion Skin Binding. A lovely description inspired by\u00a0layering effect that creates\u00a0the mesmerizing maze-like spine. In this post I talk about this structure with Ben starting with its development to how he’s adapted the structure.<\/p>\n

The Onion Skin is another one of your innovative structures. Did you develop the structure around an existing project or was it simply a product of play and experimentation?
\n<\/strong>Absolutely a product of play back in my student years when I had a lot of time on my hands. :)<\/p>\n

It was born from playing around with the idea of guards\/stubs in photo albums. I introduced colour, and tried to use uninterrupted pieces of paper and suddenly the pattern was born. Readability is a key element of my personal work. I like to be able to follow a line, understand how something is built and be able to take it appart mentally. This is also the idea behind my ‘dos rapport\u00e9’ binding.<\/p>\n

\"OnionSkin2-BenElbel\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Onion Skin binding is another structure that you offer as an online workshop<\/a> and is also how I learned the technique. I found it to be surprisingly simple once I understood the pattern of the layering. Is this a challenging structure to teach (particularly online)?
\n<\/strong>Exactly as you say. Once you have understood the sequence it is very simple to make, and consequently very simple to teach too.<\/p>\n

If you don’t have the opportunity to take Ben’s online course, you can simply purchase his comprehensive tutorial here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve really played around with this structure; can you talk about how you\u2019ve adapted the binding?
\n<\/strong>I have adapted the principle for a single section binding- the signature is sewn on a single stub made from different layers of paper, which are then folded and glued around the initial connection, until it is thick enough to form shoulders to accommodate boards, exactly as in a traditional binding.<\/p>\n

\"OnionSkin5-BenElbel\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love this structure developed\u00a0by Ben Elbel, which he appropriately named Onion Skin Binding. A lovely description inspired by\u00a0layering effect that creates\u00a0the mesmerizing maze-like spine. In this post I talk about this structure with Ben starting with its development to how he’s adapted the structure. The Onion Skin is another one of your innovative structures. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12,68,13],"tags":[1834,1867,1833,1839],"class_list":["post-9803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-binder-of-the-month","category-bookbinding","category-feature-book-of-the-week","tag-ben-elbel","tag-bookbinding","tag-elbel-libro","tag-onion-skin-binding"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Btis-2y7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9828,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/19\/bookbinder-of-the-month-ben-elbel-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":9803,"position":0},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Ben Elbel","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"July 19, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In Sonnet XVII, Dutch bookbinder Marja Wilgenkamp has reimagined Shakespeare by using a process developed by the artist collective\u00a0La Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Anonyme. The sonnet was initially read out aloud and recorded, which was then encoded into binary code. The code was then printed making it potentially accessible to the future. Offset\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Sonnet3-BenElbelandMarjaWilgenkamp.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Sonnet3-BenElbelandMarjaWilgenkamp.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Sonnet3-BenElbelandMarjaWilgenkamp.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Sonnet3-BenElbelandMarjaWilgenkamp.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9790,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/05\/bookbinder-of-the-month-ben-elbel\/","url_meta":{"origin":9803,"position":1},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Ben Elbel","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"July 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"For the\u00a0Designer Bookbinders International Bookbinding Competition\u00a0in 2009, binders were invited to produce a binding for the set book Water, a collection of poems and illustrations based on the the theme of water.\u00a0The set book was published by\u00a0Incline Press\u00a0in a limited, letterpress edition that included images from various talented illustrators and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Water2-BenElbel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Water2-BenElbel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Water2-BenElbel.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Water2-BenElbel.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9838,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/26\/bookbinder-of-the-month-ben-elbel-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":9803,"position":2},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Ben Elbel","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"July 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I am wrapping up this month's interview with\u00a0Ben Elbel\u00a0by showcasing his recent binding of Breakfast at Tiffany's. Read on to discover the technique behind the decorative covers and what secrets lay within the binding. Breakfast at Tiffany\u2019s is covered in beautifully decorated leather, which caught me by surprise. Having only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/BreakfastAtTiffanys6-BenElbel.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4647,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/03\/04\/my-hand-skype-workshop-with-benjamin-elbel\/","url_meta":{"origin":9803,"position":3},"title":"My Hand: Skype Workshop with Benjamin Elbel","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"March 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was presented with the challenge of binding a book for a set of photography prints that would need to open flat, I sent my former instructor, Jeff Altepeter, an email to help me brainstorm. 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